UNC BOG Members’ Lawyer Misrepresented Himself To Get Video Of Former ECU Chancellor

Amidst closed door meetings and links to a problematic lawyer, Harry Smith abruptly resigned from both the chair and his member seat on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors

LISA PHILIP
/ WUNC

Originally published on November 7, 2019 3:12 pm

A lawyer connected to some members of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors misrepresented his connection to powerful people in state government for access to the damaging video footage of former East Carolina University interim chancellor Dan Gerlach.

According to newly-released public records first reported by WBTV, attorney Peter Romary petitioned the City of Greenville for footage of Gerlach on the night he was seen drinking. In the petition, Romary told city officials he was acting on behalf of a senior lawmaker and later invoked the legislature’s subpoena power, neither of which were true.

Now, after weeks of refusing to comment on his connection to Romary on this case, Board of Governors member Tom Fetzer admitted to retaining Romary in order to pursue the damning video of Gerlach on the night he was seen drinking, walking unsteadily to his car, then driving off. WBTV’s Investigative Executive Producer Nick Ochsner provides the details of the case to Host Frank Stasio.